International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Upgraded to Overweight by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $100.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $75.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on IFF. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Mizuho raised their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $93.18.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF stock traded up $2.90 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,151,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,135,339. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company's fifty day moving average is $83.24 and its 200-day moving average is $79.30. The company has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 1 year low of $62.11 and a 1 year high of $97.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.27. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 5.09% and a negative net margin of 22.36%. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. International Flavors & Fragrances's payout ratio is currently -15.94%.

Institutional Trading of International Flavors & Fragrances

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter worth $1,728,544,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at about $95,612,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,927,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $267,711,000 after buying an additional 996,629 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,812,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,372,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $111,146,000 after acquiring an additional 798,946 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.